I'll drink to that where we get behind the scenes of the beverage business.

I'm Levy Dalton.

I'm Erin Scala and here's our show today. Oh, Portuguese wine from the Dura Valley is inextricably linked with trade and the strategic location of the Doro River.

From a Porto, the Doro's mouth to the Atlantic, wines could be easily shipped to England.

The strong connection between Portuguese and English trade was initiated with the 1386 Treaty of

Windsor.

And if the treaty wasn't enough, Portuguese King John the first married the daughter of an English Duke, Philippa of Lancaster.

The treaty and the marriage solidified relations between the two kingdoms, and specifically, merchants from both countries

could conduct equal business in either country.

Trade increased both ways,

and within a century, established trade routes saw a pattern of shipments of wine to England

and salt cod to Portugal. A second treaty in 1654 decreased tariffs for English and Scottish merchants conducting business in Portugal.

And soon Portugal once again increased sales to England when it lost some competition from France

due to politics.

When Louis the 14th's minister restricted English

imports to France, Charles the 1st of England wasn't going to have it. He fought

back by banning French imports in England. If France was going to choke off English trade,

England was going to do the same thing to France. This left a major wine gap in England,

and Portugal rushed to fill the drinking needs of England.

Much of the wine traded during this time was a light bright red from what is today the

Vino Verde wine region.

In the 1700s when French wines were once again allowed back into England,

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